Program Raises Students` Esteem

September 3, 1986|United Press International

GAINESVILLE -- A new teaching concept that could become a model for other programs gave students from migrant farm worker families a boost in self- esteem and may help them do better in school, researchers said Monday.

``We gave the kids a test that measures self confidence when they arrived and again at the end of the program,`` said Simon Johnson, director of the University of Florida`s first summer program for migrant students. ``The change after only 27 days was amazing.``

Johnson said the students were tested June 30, with the Tennessee Self- Concept Scale, a standardized test, and the average score was 45 on a scale of 100, a low result, indicating the students had little faith or confidence in themselves.

``But when we tested them again ... on July 23, the average score was 60 out of 100,`` Johnson said.

The 14- to 18-year-old students were given six hours of classes a day in reading and writing skills, science, math, wellness, personal growth and social skills.

Johnson said the summer program was designed with the idea that improving the students` classroom and social skills would increase their self-esteem and their chance of success in high school. Many of the students had been forced to move from school to school when their families moved to find work in the fields.

Johnson said he planned to go around the state giving workshops on how to teach migrant students.